I was looking through one of the threads, and realized you might not have seen something that might be important when you get that custom of yours built.

You had a question about this, which I couldn't really answer before, but ...

Quote:

NOT-RECOMMENDED GUITAR TYPES AND OTHER PROBLEM SETUPS:

7. Pickguards with aluminum or copper "mirror" effects, or some metallic finishes on the guitar body: Remove the foil from around the pickup area on pickguards. The magnetic pulsations from the driver induce pulsating "eddy" currents into the conductive aluminum or copper. These in turn radiate their own magnetic pulsations. The bridge pickup responds to these magnetic pulsations. The end result is that the desired magnetic balance between driver and bridge pickup is compromised. We remove the shielding foil that comes on US-made Strats and Jems from around the pickups. You can keep the foil over the electronics cavity. If we do your installation into a Strat, Jem, etc., then we include this service. Over the years of doing many Sustainiac installations, we have learned to spot certain guitar characteristics that will reduce sustainer performance. Usually, the problem is that a high-pitched squeal (oscillation ) will occur when the sustainer is operated in HARMONIC MODE. The problem is magnetic interference. Metallic paints or numerous metal objects (like pickup trim-rings) near the pickupscan cause problems. Metal objects that are mainly of concern are the non-magnetic ones (aluminum, copper, etc.). Magnetic metals (steel) tend to provide a magnetic shielding effect. But they can cause problems too. If squealing occurs in HARMONIC MODE, turn the sustainer gain pot down a little. You should be able to get a good strong harmonic mode on most frets. If you have to turn down the gain to a level where the sustainer is very sluggish before the squealing stops, then it is likely that nonmagnetic metal is causing your problem. One solution would be to make a similar part out of steel, to replace the aluminum part.

I think that might actually be an issue....the ali clad does tend to make this weird squealing noise sometimes in harmonic mode, but turning the gain pot down didn't help at all. So I'm guessing it's the aluminum finish...

It's not uncontrollable squealing, but this weird feedback squeal that happens once in a while. Enough to bug me, but I guess I have to live with it. Need to adjust the pickup heights, but also, I'm wondering if it has to do with the bridge pickup. I'm not sure if this means it's microphonic or not, but I can tap on it and I hear it through the amp.